Alexandria Scott

by Sarah S. from Sycamore Jr. HIgh

In the book, 'The Heroes Trail', T.A. Barron writes about five kinds of hero's. Heroes on the spot, surviving hero's, hero's within, hero's to others near and far, and heroes for all times. The hero I chose was Alexandria Scott. She is an example of a hero to others near and far, because this kind of hero is someone who makes a small choice and changes people’s lives. Alex Scott was exactly that type of hero.

Alexandria Scott was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma cancer in January 1997, only two days before her first birthday. When Alex was just four years old, living in Connecticut, she decided that she wanted to make a difference. She wanted to raise money to fight cancer, so she held a lemonade stand. She would give all of the money she earned to the Connecticut Children's Center Hospital. Although she sold the lemonade for only fifty cents a cup, she managed to earn two thousand dollars. Alex was so excited about the success of her lemonade stand, she decided to have it every year to raise money for cancer research. Alex's goal was to raise one million dollars that she could donate towards cancer research. After Alex's first lemonade stand, she moved to Philadelphia so she could have different medical procedures done. There she held another lemonade stand in the fall of 2001 and she raised six hundred dollars for Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). In June 2002, Alex had another lemonade stand, but this time she donated all her profits to her five-year-old friend Toireasa who had recently passed away due to Neuroblastoma cancer.

In determination to fight cancer, Alex and her family established a foundation named Alex's lemonade stand. Her total was around seven hundred thousand dollars. Alex and her lemonade stand then went worldwide, and she was broadcast on many TV stations.

Unfortunately Alex lost her battle with cancer when she was only eight years old, and she had not gotten to her goal of one million dollars. She was close, having made seven hundred thousand dollars. After her death people from all over the country donated money to help her with her cancer.

Many people have done things to help support Alex's stand. From trading in birthday presents in exchange for money to people creating their own lemonade stand to donate the money to Alex. There have been several lemonade stands in different countries all for Alex. This is why Alex was such a large hero to others, both near and far.